McNair/ROP Program

Summer 2017 Interdisciplinary Research Design

MJR Montoya, Ph.D.

How do you know what you dont know you need to know? This question will confound even the strongest researcher. Understanding how to grapple with this question separates competent researchers from exceptional scholars. This course is intended to provide you with strategies that will allow you to see the big picture as it relates to your plans for graduate school. Graduate school can be a scary thing, and this process is designed to help you demystify some of the things that makes seeking a terminal/professional degree seem impossible. The best way to master navigation is to first master your relationship to the disciplines you have chosen to make a part of your life. We will spend one month learning some of the strategies/tricks/processes that help one organize their research in a multi-purpose manner. No course on research design can address every students specific needs. The specialized knowledge learned within each field varies greatly. Thats why I need several things from you to make this process work. Here are some things to consider:

1. Come to class with an open mind. Students that come to class thinking their work is too complicated for others to understand are not only fooling themselves, theyre participating in the same power dynamics that make graduate school unnecessarily difficult. While your special training in your field is unique, its not so unique that you cant make brilliant ideas accessible to a wider audience. If you think you are being forced to dumb down your work for others, or thinking that your field of study is too sophisticated for others proves you havent realized that creating a vocabulary that reaches outside of your field is a valuable skill. This session doesnt work if we begin this way. The only way to address this is to approach class with an open mind and a spirit of generosity to the work of others in class.

2. Use your mentors to organize your thinking in class. As your instructor, I have a lot of experiences that may resonate with you. Some may frustrate you because you dont feel theyre relevant to your own work. This is where your relationship with mentors is crucial. We will develop strategies that will serve as a good start. You will be provided a checklist of exercises that you will have to complete. Some of this information will feel like a scavenger hunt. Use your mentors or peers to help complete this information. They know stuff about your field that we may not discuss in class.

3. This isnt a methods course; its a strategy course. Lets make our expectations clear. My purpose is to provide general strategies useful to any academic discipline. Keeping this in mind helps you manage your expectations for the course. You will be expected to write a research paper and give a presentation on your work for the McNair/ROP program. We have designed this course to give you ways to organize and manage your work. You can immediately apply these strategies to your McNair research and to your graduate school applications. While we will discuss different methods in class, theres no way we can cover all methods for all types of research and we likely wont dwell on vocabulary germane to any specific field. Instead, were asking you to use the information and exercises in class to determine the best course of action for your work.

4. Your journal is your friend. Make your work beautiful. If you put your information in a beautiful place, its more likely to mean more to you. Instead of providing you with documents that you can fill out, use this document as a way of outlining things you will write in your journal. I bet you these ideas will last much longer that way. At least theyll look cooler 20 years from now.

Things to discuss with your mentor, a.k.a., a tiny scavenger hunt that will optimize your time in class

Find out if your field has a preference of journals over books.

Name the Top 5 journals or publishers of books (or both) in your chosen field.

Find and create a bibliography of at least 1 best paper awards given in your field for the past five years

Name the 3 most prestigious associations for your field

Name the 3 best conferences in your field. Learn where the next one is held and add that to this report

Name 3 keywords that your research will use if you submitted your McNair research for publication

Identify the research guidelines for the top journals in your field. Practice one bibliographic reference for each style guideline you identify.

Name three books/journals/intellectual contributions that made your field what it is

Name three events in each category that define

The history of your field

World/national events that make your research question relevant

The practice of research in your field who made the methods you use or will be using?

Name three methods that are used primarily in your field. Find specific key terms.

Learn one way the impact of your research is measured in your field.

Top 5 Graduate Programs you want to apply to know the application dates for each school

InSteAd of a caleNdar, tHis is what yOu geT

Topics we will wrestle with

The dissertation and graduate school visualizing the system that is at play and how to manage it.

The Coursework Years:

Building Theoretical, Methodological, Historical/Cultural Competency

Knowing why fiscal competency matters

Using Classes to build towards your thesis and

The competency/qualifying exams

The prospectus

The dissertation

The Prime Abstract (see powerpoint presentation)

C.V.s and research pipelines

Discuss what a research pipeline is and how to develop it.

Revise your C.V. to include work such as:

Peer reviewed manuscripts

Works under review

Works in progress

Applying for jobs in the academy knowing what questions will get asked and why they are asked

Strategies to take advantage of conference visits and trips

Submitting a manuscript in your field (we will show an example of a digital submission in class)

Who is in your works cited? Creating a network to get feedback on your research before you publish

Presentation strategies learning to use your attendees to improve your paper

Know and establish 3 points of feedback you need to get from your presentation.

Jobs, Tenure, and Promotion

Public Scholarship how being an academic is and isnt about the Ivory Tower

Applying to graduate school using the prime abstract to help you get to your goals. Getting ready for the impending statement of purpose

Ok, heres a calendar. Its useful.

Monday June 5th Introduction, expectations

Tuesday June 6th Mapping out graduate school

Wednesday June 7thThe Coursework Years/Qualifying Exams/Dissertation

Thursday June 8th Mini-presentations on mentor discussions

Friday June 9th Prime Abstract overview

Monday June 12th Workshop What section

Tuesday June 13th Mini-Presentations on mentor discussions (where/when)

Wednesday June 14th Workshop Where

Thursday June 15th Workshop When

Friday June 16th Workshop How

Monday June 19thHow to build a C.V.

Tuesday June 20st Developing a research pipeline

Wednesday June 21nd Discussion: academic jobs non-academic jobs

Thursday June 22rd Taking advantage of conference visits and trips

Friday June 23th Mini-presentations on mentor discussions

Monday June 26th What to expect when applying for jobs with a Ph.D.

Tuesday June 27th Applying to graduate school statement of purpose

Wednesday June 28th Strategies for academic presentations --- Questions???

Thursday June 29th Thinking about public scholarship and defending your work

Friday, June 30th Closing